Four more weeks

Things around the house

I have a four bedroom house and four weeks left.  My daughter came in from Kansas City for the weekend to visit and to help organize the stuff in the house.  My oldest son and his wife also came by yesterday to help.  I’m glad I had some other people helping me figure this stuff out.  Several hours of: “Do you want this?”, “Ok to donate this?”, “Do you really want to throw that away?”, etc.  It is both hard to let go of stuff and liberating, mostly hard.  I’m right in the middle of the emotions, a messy house, and boxes – some partially packed, others empty.  Many people who are farther along report a satisfying and liberating feeling.  At this time my emotions are raw, memories brought back to the surface and worries about memories lost.

I have so much to do in these last four weeks.  I need to visit friends and relatives.  I need to keep working on the house and the yard.  Grass still needs to be mowed and spring pruning is not yet complete.  I need to make calls for utilities, credit cards, bank, insurance and a host of other things.  I’m beginning to feel the pressure of the clock ticking.

Packing

I need to get the last few things for my packing list and then trial pack to see what is really going to go with me to Ghana and what is going to stay behind.  My list of things to do is growing – one thing checked off with two or three things added.  

Here is a picture of SOME of the things to pack – but right now it is not very organized:  I’ll work up a complete packing list for a future post and then a subsequent one after being in country for a few months about what worked and what didn't.

Still have time to breath

I’m not at the panic stage yet.  I learned that I can’t do everything and if things don’t get done perfectly the world will not suddenly stop.  I’ll do what I can and try not to stress too much about my lists and things not yet done.


From time to time I find myself stepping back to take a deep breath.  There is not a chance that I’ll leave everything perfect and bring just the right stuff.  We all make mistakes, but we can’t let risk of mistakes stop us from acting.  We can’t keeping looking back with the “could of”, “should of”, and “would of” thoughts.  We should stay in the present moment.  One day at a time, one step at a time.

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